Practice notebook: Spurs back to basics after meltdown

As if participating in one of the worst beatings in Spurs history wasn’t bad enough, proud North Carolina product Danny Green suffered the additional indignity of his alma mater’s conquest by arch rival Duke on Saturday.

“It was a bad weekend,” he said.

While Green could simply erase the Carolina rout from his DVR, there was no ignoring the Spurs’ 136-106 debacle against Portland on Friday. With rookie point guard Damian Lillard leading the way, the Blazers scored 46 points in the fourth quarter alone, the coup de grâce of the most lopsided home defeat of the Tim Duncan era.

Not only did Lillard make 12 of 20 shots, he didn’t commit a single turnover in 40 minutes. He added insult to injury after the game by describing how comfortable he felt as the game wore on — hardly the type of mental state one would expect against a Spurs team that, even after that onslaught, still ranks third in points allowed per 100 possessions.

“It’s hard, once a guy gets into that comfort zone, to get them out of it,” Green said. “Our biggest thing is to not let them ever get to that point. By the time they got to that point it was kind of (too) late. They were very comfortable. And he wasn’t the only one.”

Indeed, three other Blazers scored at least 20 as they shot 61.6 percent from the floor. The video review finally came on Sunday. Embarrassing as it was, Green said it could have been worse.

“I was expecting really bad,” he said. “It was a lot of teaching points more so than not. Obviously we couldn’t watch the whole game, but we took bits and pieces of everybody playing bad defense. We have to pick it up individually and as a team. When they score 136 points, you have to…get back to the basics, fixing things.”

Particularly with Oklahoma City looming on Monday. The Thunder have actually improved offensively despite trading James Harden, ranking first in offensive efficiency at 113.3 points per 100 possessions (up from 109.8 last season) and third in effective shooting at 53.2 percent (up from 51.6).

Green said the biggest breakdowns against Portland came on the pick and roll, where the Blazers averaged 1.24 points per play decided by the ballhandler according to Synergy Sports. That’s nearly half a point more than the Spurs’ season average of 0.78 points — at 12th in the NBA, a good but hardly great figure even on a good night.

With two of the league’s top scorers in Kevin Durant (28.5 per game, first) and Russell Westbrook (23.4, sixth), the Thunder present an even bigger challenge.

“We definitely had to adjust a lot of things, play better, be more ready, be more attentive, especially against a team with the amount of talent they have,” Manu Ginobili said. “It’s definitely going to be a good test for us.”

NOTES

* Green made it clear he’d rather not have to guard either player at all. But given the choice between Durant and Miami’s LeBron James, he’s taking the three-time MVP.

“They’re both very good players, very tough,” he said. “But the way (Durant) shoots it, because he’s 6-11 and so long, I would have to go with him. A guy who can shoot that well (from long range) is very dangerous.

“I would probably force him to his left a little bit to give myself a chance to contest his right-hand jumper if he does pull up. But I’m mostly looking for help. I’m going to send him to Timmy.”

* Ginobili said Friday’s defeat underscored the importance of Tony Parker, who missed his third straight game with a Grade 2 left ankle sprain. Head coach Gregg Popovich said before the game he thinks Parker, who ran on a treadmill that afternoon, will beat his four-week recovery timeline.

“I really hope so,” Ginobili said. “The team knew that even though we won the first two without him it didn’t mean anything. That’s usually what happens when you have a player down: Other players step up and there’s the emotion.

“But in the long term it is going to hurt you. We need Tony back as soon as possible, but at the same time, feeling good. We can’t have him limping or not being him. So it’s great to see him running already and we are counting the days.”

* Ginobili feigned outrage when a reporter — yours truly — showed up Sunday’s workout in a Brazil soccer jersey. That led to a brief exchange on his relationship with Argentine fútbol legend Diego Maradona, who was apparently a Spurs fan well before Ginobili joined the team.

“In his book, he dedicated it to Tim Duncan and David Robinson in ’99, between other people,” Ginobili said. “So, yeah, he’s always been a fan of the Spurs, believe it or not. He really followed the Finals when we were there. He likes basketball, too.

“He has a big heart, outgoing type of guy, charismatic, an extrovert who is going to say whatever he thinks. He was born with such a talent that allowed him to get away with a lot of things another person wouldn’t.”